Foreword: Mugwort, also known as wormwood, is a perennial herb of the genus Artemisia asteraceae, one of the traditional Chinese medicines in China, since ancient times there are many documents documenting its unique medicinal value, with the inheritance and development of Chinese medicine culture, the use value of mugwort has also been continuously excavated. As a rural person, although it can not tell its medicinal value, in actual life, mugwort is often used as "wind chill, smoke mosquitoes" to use, the effect is good, practical value has been welcomed and loved by rural people, many rural families will pick mugwort storage for backup.
When it comes to the storage of mugwort, it is natural to make mugwort into "hay" in order to store it for a long time, although fresh mugwort leaves can make various characteristics of rural cuisine, such as wormwood sticks, wormwood egg cakes, etc., but fresh mugwort is more watery, not suitable for long-term storage, easy to deteriorate and rot, so it is necessary to dehydrate the fresh mugwort picked, the common way is to dry and shade dry.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > rural storage of mugwort, sun-dried and shaded, what are the pros and cons of each? </h1>
The benefits of sun drying: Mugwort through the drying of the way of dehydration treatment, can achieve dehydration effect in a short period of time, and because the temperature of the sun can make the water inside the mugwort tissue volatilize more thoroughly, the later as a long-term storage backup, not easy to mold deterioration, storage time is longer, generally can be stored for 5 to 12 months, or even longer.
Disadvantages of sun drying: Mugwort through the way of drying dehydration treatment, although it can achieve a better dehydration effect in a short period of time, but it is easy to "sunburn", that is, the sun is particularly dry, the kind that is broken when touched, in the process of drying and recycling, squeezing into debris will cause storage inconvenience, in addition, the older generation of people in the countryside often say that the "sun-dried" mugwort effect is poor, and it is easy to dry into a scorched dry, and the practical value is greatly reduced.
The benefits of yin drying: wormwood through the way of yin dry dehydration treatment, its state will not change much, storage is convenient in the later stage, and because it is naturally volatilized in the yin dry environment, the medicinal effect of mugwort is better preserved, that is, the rural elderly say that the effect is better, the practical value is higher.
The disadvantages of yin dry: mugwort is mainly distributed in China's northeast, north China, east China, south China, southwest China, Shaanxi and Gansu and other places, the light conditions in these areas are different, there is a dry and rainy environment, there is also a humid and rainy environment, although the yin dry mugwort does not need to be illuminated, but the degree of dryness and wetness of the environment will affect the yin dry effect of the mugwort; the time required for yin dry is also different, it is difficult to grasp the degree of yin dry; the most important thing is that in the process of yin drying, it is easy to appear moldy and degenerate due to the influence of the environment Even if these problems are perfectly avoided, but because the hard dry mugwort water volatilization is not complete, the storage time in the later period is shorter, generally about half a year, and it needs to be ventilated and tipped regularly, which is more troublesome.
Therefore, whether it is sun-dried or shaded drying of mugwort, it has both advantages and disadvantages, and it is impossible to achieve the best of both worlds.
So what is the recommended treatment before storing mugwort?
Step 1: Wash mugwort.
The cleaning process is very simple, you can not rub the mugwort tissue, cleaning is just to remove the mud and dust on the surface of the mugwort, the mugwort can be placed in clean water and gently shaken, and then fished out the mugwort and placed on the "water control" container to control the water clean.
Step 2: Watch the weather to dry.
Whether it is a dry and rainy environment or a humid and rainy environment, you must watch the weather forecast in advance to dry mugwort, avoid the noon sun exposure during the drying process, you can choose to use the sun light at 8 to 10 o'clock in the morning or 4 to 6 o'clock in the afternoon to dry, the drying process should be picked up every day, as far as possible, not too thick to dry, generally drying for 3 to 5 days or so, halfway according to the strength of the sun to make appropriate adjustments, in short, can not be exposed.
Step 3: Ventilate and dry.
Mugwort does not have to wait for the sun to dry to stop drying, there is a naked eye observation is a little moisture but not scorched dry state, it is necessary to ventilate the shade dry, generally placed in the corridor of the family is appropriate, you can also hang the mugwort up the ventilation effect is better, timely to pick up (once a day), the process of yin drying is also as far as possible to spread or hang scattered, can not be stacked too thick to go to the shade dry, the general yin dry to rub the leaves by hand to peel off without moisture, it takes about 5 to 10 days.
Step 4: Store for later use.
Rural people store mugwort for backup is particularly simple, find old newspapers to wrap mugwort up, so that the water in the environment and the unsanited water of mugwort can be adsorbed to the surface of the newspaper, so as not to make mugwort moldy and deteriorated. Modern storage can be sealed in a plastic bag, and the stored mugwort is checked regularly, and the storage needs to be placed in a ventilated and cool environment.
Summary: Rural storage of mugwort, sun-dried and yin-dried each has its own advantages and disadvantages, the best practical way is to combine "sun-dried" and "yin-dried", so that we can take the "benefits" of sun-dried and shaded drying, abandon its "drawbacks", and maximize the use of stored mugwort, which is the life experience summed up by rural people in long-term rural life.